Dirigible headlight



Jan. 13,1931, G. s. KECK 1,788,917

- DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT Filed Aug. 17, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

' 9 GEORGE 5. Kirk- ATTORNEX Jan. 13, 1931. G. s. KECK DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 GEORGE .5. KECK Arron/15K Filed Aug. 17, 1926 Jan. 13, 1931. e. s. KECK 1,788,917

DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT Filed Aug. 17, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 lA/VENTOE. GEORGE 5. KECK Ava/wa r Patented Jan. 13, 1-931; 7

.1 1 NI-TED; f S -T'ATESQ.

; ,enonen sQxEcx; or rAS DENAQGALII RNim ASsIGNORTo r nornawcomaonlvrromj p or WILINHNGTON, DELAWARE, A conronerron OFaDELAWAE-E] l q vformensr..r.. nnnmilien ifl Apnlicationfiled'fiugust 17,1 26; SeriaiNo', 29345.: i

This invention relates; .to dirigible head--- lights'and more particularly to a supporting l2 controlled by the steering mechanism thereof. r Y I One object ofthe invention is to-provide amechanism ofthis-kind-by means of which the headlights and-their operating mechami nismmaybesupported wholly by the frame: or other parts of an automobilewhich are carried by the springs, thus 1 avoiding the use of extensibleor flexible connecti'onsbetween the steering mechanism and the l headlights, such as are necessary when the lamps are mounted on: the frame or' fenders and the operating m'echanism is -carried in part by the-axle. U 1 V A furtherobject of the inventionistoipro 201 vid'e such a mechanism which will be of a strong durable-character and will rigidly:

7 support the headlights and will not beaiiect ed-by'thestrain imposed thereon by theop? erating mechanism.

.5-1; A further obj e'ct' of theinventioiris to pro- 'vide such a mechanism which will: beiof a compact arrangement" and attractive in appearance.- V p I Other objects or the in'vent' on w1ll appear Y !as the mechanism isdescribedj-indetaili in the accompanying drawings: Fig; 11 is a. front elevation of an automobile. showing 7 my invention applied thereto; Fig. Qis a:- l plan view of a portion of the automobile. rafx'iframe showing myinvention appliedythere-o to and partly broken away; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the automobile: frameshowing;

my invention applied thereto; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line H of Fig. 2 -Fi 5 is aplan View of afslightly modified em odiment ofthe invention :andFig. 6 is a.

r detail of a portion'of eat-transverselymoving steering arm.

In these drawnigs I' have. illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the headlight supporting mechanism as comprising standards mounted on the respective: side members of the main frame A Each 7' standard comprises a base 5" provided with an upwardly extending socket 6 in: which is mounted an elongated bar: or upright i mm:

,ber' Tconstitiiting thebody-ofthestandard;- I and'operating mechanism wherebydirlgible" lamps may bemounted on-an 'automobi'leand Mounted on the" upperfend?'off thel elongated bar 7 1S1 a top member 8 which has a-downwardly extending socket 9 to re'ceive-the up-v Y per-endbftlie'bare? andserves to connecttheheadlight with the standard. Thegto'p member 8- ofeach stand'a-rd alsoahasa l for-' wardly and d-ownwardlyelxtending socket 37: inwhich i'smount'ed the upperend of a brace rod 38-, the lower end of whichis rigidly;

secured tothe frame member' A andwhich servesto brace aftvibration. v H The standards are braced one against the cure which. is interposed"between themp and the standards against fore'an'd Q 65.. other by meansof a suitable bracing stru'c which also serves to support apart of the operating mechanism. As here shown, this bracing structure comprises i a lower bearing 14 and: an upper 'bearingg15, the twobearin'gs being arranged gin 'verti'cal alinementand? having mounted therein a: vertical shaft 16'." Thelower bearing 14 has laterally {extending portionsll'i' forming. sockets. adapted to receive the inner ends of the brace bars 18 the: outer ends'rof which are seatedin: sockets-19' carried by'andf extending inwardly fromthe base" portions 5 of the" respective standards The sockets and the brace' ro'ds are inclined V upwardly and inwardly so as to' provi'de not a only" arigid bracing action between "the twor- 1 standards: but also a rigid? support 1 forthe bearing. The upper bearing 1'5' carries}-a'- housing 20, the lower portion'of which ispreferbly formed integral with the bear-ing o and the; lateral portions of which constitute sockets 2l'f The: sockets 2 1 receive' the'in- 1- n s oyf brace rojds 2 2- the outerends'of whichzare secured'to thetop members 8- of the respective standards, these standards being tubular iniorm toreceive the; end portions of the brace bars. 1 'That'portion of the-shaft l6ilying-betweenth'e twobea'rings is enclosed a ina tubular housing 36 'which=is seeured at its -ends to therespective bearings'il i and 15 1 and vwhich serves not only {to' prot'ect the shaft and prevent the entrance of dirt into; 1

thebearings -but also servesQas afspacingf member for the bearings. 1 w

4 connected with the osteering mechanism for H the automobile. In thepresent instance, the

The headlights may be mounted onthe supporting structure in any suitable manner and where two headlights are employed they are preferably supported by the standards and arranged adjacent thereto. In order that the headlights may be spaced apart a. distance greater thanv the distance between the standards each standard is provided with an outwardly extending portion on which the respective headlights-are mounted, r As shown in Fig. 4thebrace-bars 22 are provided with portions whichextend outwardly beyond the tubular top members 8*of the standards and the headlights are mounted on these outwardly extending portions of the brace bars. In the present constructionasplit sleeve 10 is clamped rigidly onto the end of each bracebarand carries a vertical bearing 11 in which is journaled the shank or trunmien l2 o f,one-of the headlights, which. are shown at 13. r In the present instance, I have employed roller bearings to support the headlights but obviously the bearings may be of anysuitablecharacter. V

Rigidly secured to the upper, end of the shaft 16. is a crank arm 23 which is arranged within the housi'ng'20 and rests upon the upper end ofthe bearing 15. The crank arm 23" extends rearwardly and is pivotally connectednwith the innerends of two connecting rods 24:, theouter ends of which are pivotally connected with crank arms 25 rigidly connected. withjthe respective headlights ,13. Each connectingrod is preferably provided with means for adjusting its length, such as aeturn-buckle 26. *Rigidly securedto the lower end of the shaft 16 is a crank arm 27 which also extends rearwardly from the shaft andis pivotallyconnected with the inner endof-an operating rod 28. The outer end of the rod 28is pivotally connected, preferably by a universal joint, with the forward end of a crank arm 29 rigidly secured to the upper end of aishaft30journaled in a bearingqbracket3l secured to one of the frame members A of; the automobile. -A second:

crank arm 321srigidly secured to the; lower end of. the shaft 30' and has pivotallyconnected' therewith, i'preferably by a universal joint, a connecting rod 33 which extends rearwardly therefrom and is operatively rear end of the rod 33 is'pivotally connected with an arm 34 rigidly secured to a shaft;

35 forming a part ofthe steering mechanism and whrcli arm has swinging movement lengthwise of the automobile,whenthe steer-.

ing mechanism is operated. I WVhile I have shOWIl a mechanism adapted to support twoheadlightsit will-be obvious .that if it is desired to employ a single 'dirigible headlight this can be mounted centrally of the supporting -structure and directly connected with the shaft 16. V

member of the frame A. a pair of crank arms g0 and 41 which are rigidly secured to a vertical shaft 4-2 mounted in a bearing bracket Ail-secured to the frame member. These crankar-ms constitute in effecta bell crank lever andthe laterally extending arm 41 is connectedby meansof a rod M with the crank arm 32, the rod 4:4: being substituted for the 'ro'd'38'o'fFig. 2. The forwardly eX- tending arm {1:0 is connected by a rod 45 with the transversely swinging steering arm 46;

by aball and socket joint 1 The other'parts of themechanism require no change and the operationof the headlights will be the same 7 as that effected by the mechanism heretofore.

described.

r. NhileI haveshown and described one ein bodimentof my invention I wish it to be understood that I- donot desire to be'limited to the details thereof as various modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art. I

Having now fullydescribed my invention, whatI claim as newfland desire to secure by LettersPatent, is: v

=1. Ina dirigible. headlight mechanism, a supporting structure comprising standards adapt-d to be rigidly'secured to a part of an automobile which is carried by the springs, brace barssecured to sald standards and ex% tending inwardly therefrom, a vertical hearing supported by theinner ends of said brace, bars and serving to connect said bars one to the other, a second pair of brace bars secured to said. standard and extending inwardly therefrom, a vertical bearing secured to the inner ends of the last mentioned brace bars and serving to connect said bars one to the otherfa shaft journaled in said bearings, headlights supported by the respective standards, a crank arm securedto each headlight,

a crank arm secured tosaid shaft, connecting rods connecting the lastmentloned crankarm with the respective .first mentioned crankarmsya second crank arm secured to said shaft, an operating rod connected with thelast'rnentioned arm, and means adapted to be mounted on'apart of said automobile which is carried by the springs for operatively connecting said operating rod with the steering,

mechanism of-said automobile.

2. A supporting structure for dirigible headlights comprising apair of standards, each having at its upper end a laterally extending part providednear its outer end with a bearing tosupport a headlight, brace bars extending-inwardly from; the lower endsot the respective standards, a bearingarranged at the inner ends of said brace bars and rigidly secured thereto, other brace bars carried portions of said standards, a second bearing secured to and supported by the inner ends of the last mentioned'brace bars, saidsecondbearing being arranged in line with thefirst' mentioned bearing, a shaft journaled in said bearings, means for connecting said shaft with said'headlights, and means for operatively'connecting said shaft with the steering mechanism of an automobile.

3. In a supporting structure for dirigible headlights, upright standards each comprising a base having a vertically arranged socket, an elongated member mounted in said socket, atop member having a downwardly extending socket to receive the upper end of said elongated'member, an inwardly extending socket carried by the base of each standard, a brace bar supported in each of the last mentioned sockets, a vertical bearing at the inner ends of said'brace bars having sockets to receive theinner ends of said brace bars,

other brace bars mounted in the top members of the respective standards, and extending outwardly beyond said standards, vertical bearings carried by the outwardly extending portions of said brace bars and adapted to support headlights, a bearing arranged adjacent to the inner ends of the last mentioned brace bars, sockets carried'by said bearing to receive the inner ends of said last mentioned bars, a shaft journaled in the bearings at the inner ends of said brace bars,means foroperatively connecting said shaft with said headlights, and means for actuating said shaft, i a

4. Dirigible headlight mechanism for an automobile comprising a supporting structure rigidly mounted on a part of said automobile which is carried by the springs, means for mounting a headlight on said structure, a vertical bearing carried by said supporting structure, a shaft journaled in said bearing, an operative connection between said shaft and said headlight, two pairs of bell crank levers mounted on a part of said automobile which is carried bythe springs,:m'eans Y for connecting the two pairs of bell crank levers one to the other, an operative connection between one, pair of bell crank levers and said shaft, and an operative connection between the other pair of bell crank levers and a transversely movable part of the steer- 1 ing mechanism 'of said automobile.

; an automobile, a

5; In a dirigible headlight mechanism for supporting structure adapted to be rigidly mounted on a part of said automobile which is carried by the springs and comprising upper andjlower transverse portions, a vertical bearing carried by each transverse portion of said supporting structure, a headlight mounted on said structure for movement about averti- ,cal axis, a shaftjournaled in said bearings,

light withsaid shaft, anoperatingrod con it i nected with said shaft, and'means adapted to be mounted on a part of said automobile carried by the'springs for 'operativelycone:

necting said rod with thesteering mechanism of said automobile. ,7 f

6. In a dirigible headlight'mechanism, a

structure adapted to support a headlight and comprising standards tobe securedto parts of an automoblle, a pairof brace bars secured to said standards and extending inwardlytherefrom,a member supported by the inner ends of said brace bars,'serving to connect said bars one to the other and having a vertical bearing, a second" pair of brace bars secured to said'standardsand extending inwardly therefrom and a member secured to the inner ends of the last men- 'tioned brace bars, serving to connect said,

bars one to the other and having a vertical bearing in line with the first mentioned bearing, a shaft journaled in'said bearings, a tubular housing secured to said members in I line with said bearings andenclosing the intermediate portion ofsaidshaft, means for operatively connecting said shaft with said headlight, an operating device operatively connected withsaid shaft, and means for operatively connecting said operating device with V the automobile. y

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature hereto. a

GEORGE S. KECK.

steering mechanism of said 

